Nut installation for blind fastenings



Dec. 12, 1944. F. EIIIOHNSON 2,365,137

NUT INSTALLATION FOR BLIND FASTENINGS Filed Dec. 21, 1942 EanZcEJoZ wwon.

Patented Dec. 12, 1944} Q l'i NUT INSTALLATION FOR FASTENINGS' BLIND "Frank. E- Johnson. Maiden. Mass... assigno to Unitedrca r Fa ne 'C pu t ohfihmbfidse,

Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Applicationtl lecember 21. 1942, Satin N easse,

3' Claims. (o1. ss -32) i d w squeezedtogetherinflthe plane of; the. base: III,

a The present invention. relates to nut installas. tions for; blind, fastenings, such asthose employed with -a supporting member which, is accessiblefr m only one side.v and; thenutaswell asthe assem.-.-

supported member and. screw, must be bled from saiiaccessibleside;

One of the n maryjobiects-oithepresent in-1} vention is to improve such nut. installations gen.-

e y y. e rovision of an imp oved and simplifiedi nut em er; t t, may adi y e snapped into engagement with the apertured supportv and.

whichwillefiect a secure engagement with the support when the screwor bolt is threaded into;

the nut.

I Illustrative of the invention, reference is made tothe ccomp nying drawing f. one em odiment thereof, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of thesupr-g partially closing the gap or slot: Mariel slightly curving .the oppo ite longitudinal ed es of the base as indicated at iiinFie. 3. .The nut isthus tensioned to maintain theasped barr l inclosed h ipheralv face. thereof; is; bevelled or. ndercu as] at. .16. tozprovidee ecessed n rt on for 5 3 a tenet en agement with thewall sur oun ing t e pertur t e support Brefe a lythe die eme erei the. oute face of. the barrel at ts end/ hen c n rac ed is. epb orim tely, equal to and 5 respectively, and illustrating the locked po- The nut member is preferably formed from a thin sheet metal blank preferably of elongated.

non-circular shape, for example a rectangular blank, having a base I0 and an integral tubular metal barrel or sleeve II drawn from the body of the blank. The barrel II is drawn to a desired diameter and has a threaded bore I2 for the reception of a threaded screw or-bolt I3 to be used with the nut. The base I0 is gapped or slotted midway of one longitudinal side as at I4, said slot extending inwardly to the threaded bore I2 and extending through the barrel II at one side only.

The nut member may then be distorted or the diameteret the aperture 3 so that, the arrel may e-s pped. ther i -y Y Contraction of the barrel I I as above described reduces its diameter to permit it to be snapped into the-aperture, and providesa tapped opening smaller than the diameter of the threaded screw for which the nut was intended. Accordingly, with the nut in place in the support as described above and as illustrated in Figs. 4, 3,

' and 5, the screw may be threaded into the tapped consequent expanding of the barrel places the portions of the tapped bore on opposite sides of the gap I4, under tension providing a friction grip against the threaded screw tending to resist rotation of the screw in unthreading direction. This expansion of the barrel II also tends to straighten out the longitudinal side edges I5 of the nut base I0.

The recessing of a portion 2 of the support I surrounding the aperture 3 provides a seat or recess for the nut base I0 that the outer face of the nut base will not extend beyond the accessible side A of the support I. The rectangular shape of the recess 2 and nut base II] also prevents the nut From the above it will be apparent that the mf vention provides an extremely simple and eihcient nut construction. By reason of the fact that the nut barrel I I is associated with a split base, which is somewhat resilient and normally contractedto 10; to. a. distance. sli htly greater -ment with the peripheral wall of the aperture 3.

barrel sections being radially expanslble by a screw threaded into said here into locking engagement with said apertured support, and said expanded barrel sections exerting a tension on said screw thereby resisting turning movement thereof in an unthreading direction.

2. A nut installation for use with a support having a circular aperture therethrough, said nut comprising a base and a short tubular barrel extending from one face of the base and open at both ends, said base and barrel being gapped at one side only and extending from one opening in During this operation the intermediate portion of the longitudinal side, opposite the gap I4, reacts as a spring hinge, which acts normally to contract the expanded barrel, thus subjecting the threaded screw to tension, resisting movement thereof in an unthreading direction.

As will be apparent, both the nut and the screw are inserted from the same side A of the support, thus providing a simple and effective blind fastening installation.

Although I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereby because the scope of my invention is best defined by the following claims. l

I claim:

1. In combination with a support having a. circular aperture, a nut for attachment thereto comprising an elongated fiat base formed with a central tubular barrel extending from one fac thereof and providing a central screw-receiving bore through said barrel, said barrel and said base being gapped from one longitudinal edge'of said base to the end of said barrel, and said base being bowed longitudinally in the plane thereof providing resiliently connected barrel sections adapted to be snapped into said support aperture, said said barrel to the other, and said barrel being contracted for at least a portion thereof so that it is of a diameter to be snapped into said support aperture, said barrel having a threaded screw-receiving bore for the reception of a screw to expand the gapped barrel into locking engagement with the apertured support.

3. In combination with a support having a circular aperture, a nut for attachment thereto comprising an elongated fiat base formed with a central tubular barrel extending from one face thereof and providing a central screw-receiving bore through said barrel, the outer peripheral face of said barrel being undercut from its free end toward said base to permit said barrel to be snapped into and retained in said circular aperture, said barrel and said base being gapped from one longitudinal edge'of said bore to the end of said barrel thereby providing resiliently connected barrel sections adapted to be snapped into said support aperture, said barrel sections being radially expansible by a screw threaded into said bore into locking engagement with said apertured support,

and said expanded barrel sections exerting a tension on said screw resisting turning movement thereof 'in an unthreading direction.

FRANK E. JOHNSON. 

